Lowe’s plans to invest $5 million to repair and expand a flatbed distribution center in Thomasville, N.C., that was damaged by a November tornado, according to an article in The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Journal.

A 25-year-old firefighter was charged with misdemeanor theft In Joplin, Mo., for allegedly looting a Home Depot store after a tornado destroyed the building, according to an article in the Joplin Globe.

Matthew Page was one of three firefighters dismissed June 9 by the town of Baxter Springs, Kan., for alleged misconduct during the emergency response to the tornado. But Joplin authorities said they only had enough evidence to charge one of the suspects.

Lowe’s store manager Michael Hollowell received a congratulatory call from the President of the United States the day after he and his team herded about 70 customers away from the vulnerable front-end of his Sanford, N.C., store, moments before it was ripped apart by a tornado.

Congratulatory phone calls from the president of the United States are usually reserved for the likes of World Series pitchers or Nobel Prize winners. But Lowe’s store manager Michael Hollowell received his call the day after he and his team herded about 70 customers away from the vulnerable front-end of his Sanford, N.C., store, moments before it was ripped apart by a tornado.

With its Merrill, Wis., headquarters and final assembly plant hit by a tornado April 10, Lincoln Windows issued a press release indicating the company is continuing operations.

The company said its Timeline, Wis., facility was not damaged by the tornado and is fully operational now that shared computer operations have been restored. Production has already resumed on existing and incoming orders, according to the company.

Alexander’s Hardware in Theodore, Ala., was destroyed by a tornado on March 9, one of four twisters that moved through the westernmost area of the Florida Panhandle.

The National Weather Service determined that the worst of four tornados hit the hardware store with 120 mph winds, tearing off the roof, caving in the walls and turning merchandise into flying projectiles. Owner Margaret Alexander and five employees were in the store at the time. No one was injured.